Sexual harassment allegations against San Diego Mayor Bob Filner brought him into the national spotlight, but that was far from the only controversy during his short tenure in office. Here's a detailed chronology at the highs and lows of his eight months as San Diego's 35th chief elected official.

San Diego's first Democratic mayor in 20 years

Nov. 6, 2012: Bob Filner, a Democratic congressman, edged out Republican City Councilman Carl DeMaio to replace Jerry Sanders as mayor of San Diego. The final vote was 245,092 (52.49%) for Filner and 221,870 (47.51%) for DeMaio.

Nov. 7, 2012: In his first post-election news conference Mayor-elect Filner pledged to bring a divided city together by opening the doors of City Hall to all and ensuring everyone has a say in civic happenings.

Dec. 19, 2012: Filner warned of a potential $37 million budget deficit. He also issued a temporary ban on city employee business trips after reading repeated media reports of extravagant travel costs at other agencies.

Jan. 7: Filner introduced a diverse staff that was half women and a third Latino.

U-T

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith.

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. (U-T)

Conflicts with other officials

Jan 9: Filner engaged in two public disputes with fellow elected officials. At the City Council meeting, Filner repeatedly interrupted Todd Gloria and a deputy city attorney over proposed appointments to the San Diego Association of Governments board. Filner later apologized to the council for his outbursts. That evening, the mayor criticized law enforcement’s crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries and singled out City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, telling a pro-medicinal marijuana crowd that Goldsmith was “a little guy” that could be intimidated.

Tourism funding standoff

Feb. 22:Hoteliers sued Filner and the city over his refusal to sign an agreement authorizing San Diego’s Tourism Marketing District to oversee tourism marketing funds. A back-and-forth battle ensued with lawsuits, vetoes and overrides.

March 14: Filner and Frye launched sandiego.gov/opengov, a website that acts as a one-stop shop for public information from city employee pay and pensions to contracts to lawsuits.

March 21: A judge upheld Filner’s right not to sign the tourism agreement.

April 11: Filner use his veto power to rebuff the council’s March 26 directive to sign a tourism pact. On Monday, April 15, the council overrode that veto and the city council reached a revised accord with hoteliers.

April 14: Donna Frye left the mayor’s office, ending Filner’s attempt to change the municipal code to allow Frye to work full-time.

June 10: The city council approved the mayor’s annual budget which included increases for public safety departments, the homeless and city workers, and a big cut for the city attorney’s office.

June 18: Filner accused a deputy city attorney of leaking confidential information and ordered a police officer who serves as his bodyguard to throw him out of a meeting.

Controversies begin to emerge

June 20: Two of the mayor’s top aides — Deputy Chief of Staff Allen Jones and chief spokeswoman Irene McCormack — quit because of how Filner conducted himself.

June 21: Filner used his veto to cut more than $500,000 in funding from the budget of City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. The move followed a previous attempt to cut Goldsmith’s budget, which had been restored by the council.

June 27: Filner initially refused to answer questions about a trip he took to Paris. Filner traveled to France from June 21 to June 26 to participate in a rally in Villepinte, just outside of Paris, sponsored by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Later he said the trip was funded by the nonprofit arm of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and that his fiancée accompanied him and paid her own way although the city picked up the tab for the mayor’s security detail.

June 28: Facing questions about questions about a $100,000 donation to the city made by a developer seeking the mayor’s approval for revisions to a Kearny Mesa project, Filner held a news conference to announce he was giving the money back. The city’s independent pension board voted not to lower San Diego’s annual pension payment, blowing a $20 million hole in the budget.

Attorney Gloria Allred announces that Irene McCormack Jackson, Mayor Bob Filner's former communications director, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the city of San Diego.

Attorney Gloria Allred announces that Irene McCormack Jackson, Mayor Bob Filner's former communications director, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the city of San Diego. (K.C. Alfred)

Sexual harassment allegations

July 10: A letter surfaced from longtime Filner ally attorney Cory Briggs asking him to step down as Mayor. Former City Council member and Filner staff member Donna Frye and attorney Marco Gonzalez also wrote letters requesting his immediate resignation due to “credible evidence” that Filner harassed more than one woman.

July 11: At an emotional news conference Briggs, Frye and Gonzalez, publicly called on Filner to resign over allegations of sexual harassment. Mayor Filner released a video apology in which he said that he needed help, but indicated he had no intention of resigning.

July 12: Calls for Mayor Bob Filner’s resignation grew louder with high-profile Democrats asking him to step down and a top aide, Vince Hall resigned as chief of staff.

July 15: Filner issued statement explaining his reasons for staying in office. He also appointed Walt Ekard, the county’s former top administrator, as his interim chief operating officer to run city operations and introduced Tony Buckles as his interim chief of staff.

July 18: Filner issued news release saying he supports the planned Convention Center expansion. The San Diego County Democratic Party’s central committee deadlocked 24-24 on a vote to call for Filner’s resignation.

July 19: The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department announced it would be the lead investigative agency for any complaints against Filner, and set up a hotline for alleged victims to call. Filner recall proponents held a rally outside City Hall.

July 25:Four more San Diego womencame forward accusing Mayor Bob Filner of sexual advances, including Sharon Bernie–Cloward, president of the San Diego Port Tenants Association, Patti Roscoe, a prominent businesswoman, retired Navy rear-admiral Veronica “Ronne” Froman and Joyce Gattas, dean of the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts at SDSU. The leaders of the county’s Democratic Party called on him to resign.

John Gibbins

Mayor Filner arrives at his press conference where he said he will be getting counseling for his behavior but remaining in office.

Mayor Filner arrives at his press conference where he said he will be getting counseling for his behavior but remaining in office. (John Gibbins)

July 30: The City Council voted unanimously to file a lawsuit against Mayor Filner to recover any damages the city may have to pay and turned down Filner’s request to cover his legal bills. Lisa Curtin, director of government and military education at San Diego City College, became the eighth woman to publicly accuse the mayor of sexual misconduct. The council also voted 5-4 to approve Filner’s call to extend the city’s “prevailing wage” ordinance to nearly all city construction and maintenance projects.

Aug. 6: Michelle Tyler, a nurse seeking to aid wounded Marine, said Filner pressed her for a date at a June 11 meeting in the Mayor’s Office at City Hall when she went met with him asking for assistance in dealing with the VA. Gloria Allred accused the mayor of using his office to satisfy his needs.

Aug. 12: A group of protesters welcomed Mayor Bob Filner back from behavioral therapy with chants of “Bob must go!” outside City Hall. In a Filner written response to the recall petition filed before a midnight deadline, Filner listed his accomplishments while in office and wrote, “Now is not the time to go backwards.”